Monseigneur Claude Frollo ([klod f??lo]) is a fictional character and the main antagonist from Victor Hugo's 1831 novel The Hunchback of Notre-Dame. He is the Archdeacon of Notre Dame.
Video Claude Frollo
In the novel
Dom Claude Frollo was a highly knowledgeable but morose individual who was orphaned along with his infant younger brother Jehan when their parents died of the plague. His studies led him to become the Archdeacon of Josas, which is his position during the events of the novel. He also has a small fief which brings him a little money, most of which goes to fund his brother's alcoholism.
Frollo has a deeply compassionate side. During a holiday at Notre Dame called Quasimodo Sunday, he rescues a deformed hunchback child whom he finds abandoned on the cathedral's foundlings bed. He adopts him, names him "Quasimodo" after the holiday, raises him like a son, cares for him, and teaches him a sort of sign language when Quasimodo becomes deaf. Frollo is a respected scholar and studies several languages, law, medicine, science and theology. However, he becomes infatuated with alchemy, which leads townspeople to spread the rumor that he is a sorcerer. He also believes strongly in fate. All this, along with his extreme and irrational fear of women, contribute further to his isolation from society.
Frollo also has strong passions even though he is a celibate due to his station within the church. These passions erupt in him through his contact with the beautiful Gypsy girl Esmeralda, and eventually they prove his undoing. He considers her to be a temptation sent by the Devil to test his faith, and begins by cursing her as a demoness, but finds he cannot resist her, and determines to give in to temptation. Esmeralda, however, is repulsed by his impassioned advances. Frollo orders Quasimodo to abduct her, a crime that Frollo himself instigated out of mad lust for her, and then abandons him when the hunchback is suddenly captured by Captain Phoebus de Chateaupers and his guards. Frollo even ignores the poor hunchback when he sees him being publicly tortured for the crime. When Frollo discovers that Esmeralda is in love with Phoebus, he spies on the meeting between them which Esmeralda has arranged - with Phoebus' consent, as Phoebus only wants one night of passion. As Phoebus and Esmeralda prepare to copulate, Frollo, in a jealous rage, stabs Phoebus, and kisses Esmeralda when she faints before fleeing.
Frollo does not attempt to intercede when Esmeralda is turned over to the magistrate on charges of witchcraft and attempted murder, but he stabs himself during her torture and shows her the wound as a proof of his love for her. She is unmoved however, as she is still in love with Phoebus, even after discovering the truth about his infatuation with her, and shortly before her execution he comes completely undone and leaves Paris in a feverish madness, not realizing that his adopted son, Quasimodo, has rescued her from the gallows. When he returns to the news that Esmeralda is still alive, he quickly becomes as jealous of Quasimodo as he was of Phoebus; the thought drives him to further insanity. Frollo later attempts to rape her at her sanctuary in the cathedral, only to be brutally beaten and nearly killed by Quasimodo, who doesn't realize who he is until he staggers into the moonlight. Frollo has had enough, and decides to rid himself of Esmeralda by handing her over to the authorities.
Frollo's time comes when a group of scoundrels, enraged by news that the French monarchy has ordered Esmeralda to be taken from the cathedral and hanged within three days, arms themselves to assault Notre Dame Cathedral. While Quasimodo is busy fighting off the scoundrels, Pierre Gringoire, Esmeralda's husband - whom she only married to save his life - and a hooded figure sneak into the Cathedral and convince Esmeralda to sneak out with them. The man's face is hidden behind a hood, leaving Esmeralda to guess his identity. They flee to a boat on the River Seine, then separate when they head to shore, with Gringoire taking her goat, Djali, and leaving Esmeralda with the unknown man. The hooded figure drags Esmeralda to a nearby gallows and identifies himself as Frollo by removing his hood.
Frollo issues Esmeralda his final ultimatum: either she must accept his love, or he shall hand her over to the authorities. In fact, she refuses to reciprocate, so Frollo leaves Esmeralda to an anchoress to hold her for the royal soldiers coming to hang her and goes back to Notre Dame Cathedral. He then walks up to one of the cathedral's towers to watch the girl being hanged, unaware that Quasimodo has spotted him and followed him upstairs. He watches calmly while Esmeralda is taken to the gallows; then when the girl is actually hanged, he bursts into an evil laugh - perhaps he is glad to have her out of his life, or perhaps he sees it as retribution for her rejection of him.
When Quasimodo sees him laughing at Esmeralda's hanging, he becomes enraged and pushes Frollo off the balustrade. A gargoyle stops his fall, and he cries out to Quasimodo for help, but Quasimodo remains silent. Then Frollo falls down off the cathedral, colliding with the roof of a house. He slides down the roof, hits the pavement of the town square and dies. (All of the adaptations omit this ending part of Hugo's novel, instead showing Frollo falling off the cathedral top directly to the pavement of the town square to his death, except in the 1982 adaptation, which shows Frollo dying from Quasimodo impailing him with a hook. In fact, the part of the original book where Frollo named Quasimodo after Quasimodo Sunday is also never shown in each adaptation.)
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Adaptations
Victor Hugo's novel has been adapted to film on numerous occasions. In the 1923 silent film version, Claude Frollo's name is changed to Don Claudio, and he is not the villain, but instead a good archdeacon; the villain of the film is actually his younger brother, Jehan. The 1939 sound film version also made a similar change, portraying Claude as an archbishop and Jehan ("Jean" in the film) as a judge. This version of the story is said to be what most influenced the 1996 Disney adaptation, which made the character of Claude a judge rather than an archdeacon; the archdeacon was a separate character entirely, and the character of Jehan was omitted. Many conclude that such changes were made to avoid a negative reaction from religious organizations.
Disney version
Appearance in the first film
In Disney's 1996 animated film version of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Judge Claude Frollo, whose features were inspired from the actor Stewart Granger's ones, was voiced by Tony Jay, whom directors Kirk Wise and Gary Trousdale chose for the role based on his brief appearance in their previous film, Beauty and the Beast (1991). Kathy Zielinski served as the supervising animator for Frollo. In this version, Frollo is portrayed as a merciless, self-righteous, and religious Minister of Justice of Paris whose goal in life is to rid the world of sin, and he sees corruption all around him except within himself. This is shown by his intense hatred of the gypsy population and his desire to to wipe out their entire race, as he believes them to "live outside the normal order" and "engage in heathen behavior". The Disney film omits Frollo's capacity for compassion present in Hugo's original novel, instead adding a selfish and reluctant interpretation to his adoption of Quasimodo. Due to his horrible actions in the film, Frollo is widely regarded and remembered as one of the darkest Disney villains of all time. Also, due to the fact that he constantly thinks that his horrible actions are in God's will and that he considers himself "purer than the common vulgar weak licentious crowd", he is the most complex character Disney has ever created.
Frollo appears in the beginning of the film, when he, riding on his black horse named Snowball, and his men ambush a group of gypsies sneaking illegally into Paris. A gypsy woman in the group attempts to flee with her deformed baby, but Frollo chases and kills her outside Notre Dame. He tries to kill the baby as well, but the cathedral's Archdeacon, intervenes and accuses Frollo of murdering an innocent woman. To atone for his sin, Frollo reluctantly agrees to raise the deformed child in Notre Dame as his son, naming him "Quasimodo" after his deformities. Frollo raises Quasimodo within the towers of Notre Dame, attempting to "protect" him from the outside world and convincing him that he will never be accepted by society, due to his appearance. He also lies to him about his mother, claiming that she abandoned him when he was a baby.
Twenty years later, in the Palace of Justice, Frollo appoints a new Captain of the Guard, Phoebus, stating his intent to eradicate the city's Gypsy population by discovering their sanctuary, the "Court of Miracles". While attending the annual Festival of Fools, Frollo discovers a Gypsy dancer named Esmeralda, who attracts him with her beauty; she dances in front of him and kisses him on the nose. At the same time, he discovers that Quasimodo left the bell tower and joined the Festival and was crowned the King of Fools. Frollo does not help Quasimodo when he is being humiliated in public by the crowd; in fact, he refuses Phoebus' request to stop it, and it infuriates him when Esmeralda defiantly decides to assist Quasimodo instead. Esmeralda ridicules Frollo, who immediately orders her arrested, just before she claims sanctuary within Notre Dame. Frollo later confronts Esmeralda, disturbing her by sniffing her hair inappropriately. He states that she is still in a "prison" and that, as soon as she leaves, she is "mine".
That evening in the Palace of Justice, Frollo is disturbed by his attraction to Esmeralda. He soon develops lustful feelings for Esmeralda and, upon realizing them, begs the Virgin Mary to save him from her "spell" to avoid eternal damnation. A smoke apparition of Esmeralda emerges from the fireplace (pictured above), and it and Frollo embrace passionately. Frollo asks God to have mercy on both him and Esmeralda, implying that he ultimately knows that his actions are against God's will. When Frollo discovers that she escaped, he instigates a citywide manhunt for her which involves setting fire to countless houses in his way. Phoebus is appalled by Frollo's evil and defies him, and Frollo sentences him to death. Frollo is also an animal lover, as shown by his fondness and concern towards his horse Snowball (when Phoebus escapes on Frollo's horse, Frollo orders "Get him! And don't hit my horse!"). While fleeing, Phoebus is struck by an arrow and falls into the River Seine, but Esmeralda rescues him and takes him to Notre Dame for refuge.
Frollo returns to Notre Dame later that night and discovers that Quasimodo helped Esmeralda escape. He bluffs to Quasimodo, saying that he knows about the Court of Miracles and that he intends to attack at dawn. A misled Quasimodo accompanies Phoebus to the Court to warn Esmeralda, and Frollo and his men follow them and arrest the gypsies. Frollo says, "Why, he led me right to you, my dear", caressing Esmeralda's cheek lovingly. Phoebus and the gypsies are confined to cages and Quasimodo is chained up in the bell tower. Frollo then starts off sentencing Esmeralda to execution, though he gives her a chance to live by becoming his lover. A disgusted Esmeralda refuses by spitting in his face. Frollo prepares to burn Esmeralda at the stake after she rejects his advances, but Quasimodo rescues her and brings her to the cathedral. Frollo orders his soldiers to seize the cathedral by force. Phoebus releases the gypsies and rallies the citizens of Paris against Frollo and his men, who try to break into the cathedral. Quasimodo pours molten lead onto the streets to ensure no one enters, but Frollo, losing the last of his sanity, successfully manages to get inside. The archdeacon attempts to intervene, but Frollo throws him aside, and Frollo locks the door behind him, to prevent him from interfering. He comes across Quasimodo mourning over a seemingly dead Esmeralda and attempts to kill Quasimodo, resulting in a violent struggle in which Quasimodo overpowers Frollo and throws him to the floor. Frightened, Frollo momentarily abandons his pride and begs for mercy, but Quasimodo is finally able to break free from Frollo's manipulation and abuse, stating: "all my life you told me the world is a dark, cruel place; but now I see the only thing dark and cruel about it is people like you." Suddenly, Esmeralda regains consciousness, and an incredulous Frollo cries out, "She lives!", drawing a sword, and chasing Quasimodo and Esmeralda to the balcony. In his rage, Frollo finally admits that he killed Quasimodo's mother who was trying to save him. He then declares that he will now kill Quasimodo himself as he "should have done" twenty years ago. Frollo subsequently uses his cape to knock Quasimodo off of the balcony, but Quasimodo manages to hold on and ends up pulling Frollo along with him (but is unwilling to let him fall). Frollo dangles momentarily for his life, but he is soon able to climb on a gargoyle in perfect position to kill Esmeralda, who is attempting to save Quasimodo. Frollo raises his sword and maniacally quotes a faux Bible verse created for the film:
"And He shall smite the wicked and plunge them into the fiery pit!"
Immediately, the gargoyle that he is standing on starts breaking off and he loses his balance and falls, clinging onto the gargoyle and dropping his sword in the process. In an apparent vision, the face of the gargoyle becomes the face of Satan and roars at Frollo, terrifying him and making him scream in terror. The gargoyle then breaks off entirely from the balcony, sending a screaming Frollo falling to his death into the lake of molten copper created by Quasimodo, clearly indicated to symbolize that his soul is now trapped in eternal damnation in Hell as punishment for his unholy actions and behavior, as well as ending his tyranny once and for all. The fate of his thugs is unknown, it is presumed that they are either arrested for their crimes or dismissed from service by Phoebus, who is reinstated as Captain of the Guard.
Referenced in the second film
In Disney's 2002 direct-to-video sequel, The Hunchback of Notre Dame II, when Sarousch (a gypsy master criminal and the main antagonist of the film) reminds Madellaine that when he caught her stealing food from him when she was little, he took her in instead of handing her to the authorities. Although Frollo is not named, it is very possible that he was the person Sarousch would have turned Madellaine over to. He is also mentioned when Clopin announces Esmeralda's dancing performance, and jokingly tells a young boy that she just "might steal your heart," using a puppet that looked a lot like Frollo, referencing Frollo's lust for Esmeralda. Also, when Madellaine (who was Sarousch's assistant until she fell in love with Quasimodo) tries to convince him to trust her into helping him stop Sarousch, Quasimodo coldly replies "I already made that mistake", possibly referring to how Frollo deceived Quasimodo for twenty years into loyalty to the former.
Other appearances
- Frollo appears in the Disney's Hollywood Studios night-time show Fantasmic!, called on by the Evil Queen to fight Mickey Mouse. He is destroyed along with the other villains in the show's conclusion. Frollo made appearances at Disney's Hollywood Studios in the daily Disney Stars and Motor Cars Parade. In 2009, the parade moved to the Walt Disney Studios park at Disneyland Resort Paris and it is uncertain if Frollo will appear in this version, renamed Stars'n'Cars. Frollo makes a brief cameo appearance during the night-time show Disney's World of Color at Disney California Adventure Park. "Hellfire", the song that Frollo sings in the feature film, is also heard in the show. Frollo also appears at the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts as a meetable character.
- Frollo makes a brief appearance at the beginning of the House of Mouse special House of Villains. At one time, he was sitting with the Mad Hatter who was annoying him and making fun of his bulbous hat, but he had no dialogue. He also appeared sitting near the two outraged guests, but still no dialogue.
- Frollo appears in Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance, along with a world based on the Disney film called La Cité des Cloches. He plays out the same role as in the movie, though he is one of the few Disney villains who does not serve as a boss battle due to the Wargoyle Dreameater which he believed to be of divine origins. While the Sora scenario had Frollo die in the same manner as the movie, the Riku scenario had him fall to his death as a consequence of an updraft called by Wargoyle. He is voiced by Shouzou Sasaki in the Japanese version and by Corey Burton in the English version.
- Frollo leads a team of Disney villains in The Kingdom Keepers IV: Power Play in order to free their leaders, Maleficent and Chernabog.
See also
- Quasimodo
- Esméralda (The Hunchback of Notre Dame)
References
External links
- Illustration Gallery
- Many faces of Frollo
- Fansite
- Frollo in the Disney Archives-Villains.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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